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Electrical & Electronics Engineering vocabulary · PCB Design and Manufacturing

Solder

Meaning in electrical & electronics engineering, with examples

/ˈsɑdər/verbCore term

In electrical & electronics engineering, solder means: To join metal parts, such as a component lead and a copper pad, by melting a low-temperature metal alloy between them. The alloy itself is also called solder.

In Turkish: lehimlemek, lehim yapmak

How it is used

Used daily in labs and production. You solder a component, a wire or a connector, and talk about the soldering iron, flux, a solder joint, a dry joint and lead-free solder. To remove a part you desolder it.

Example sentences

  1. Can you solder these two wires to the connector before the test?

  2. The connector wasn't soldered properly, so the joint cracked.

Common collocations

  • solder joint
  • soldering iron
  • lead-free solder
  • solder a component
  • solder bridge
  • PCBShort for printed circuit board: a flat board of insulating material with copper tracks that hold electronic components and connect them to each other.
  • SMDShort for surface-mount device: a component soldered directly onto pads on the surface of a PCB, without leads going through holes. The technology is called SMT.
  • footprintThe pattern of copper pads, holes and markings on a PCB that matches a component's package, so that the part can be placed and soldered correctly.
  • short circuitAn unwanted low-resistance connection between two points that should be kept apart, such as live and neutral. It causes a very large current that can damage equipment or start a fire.

More terms: PCB Design and Manufacturing

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